Intel 320 Series 80GB, best choice?

[chivs688]

Looking at buying an 80GB SSD for my PC:

Intel Core i5-2500K (will be OC'd @ 4.5 / 4.7 GHz)
Asus P8P67 Intel P67 Motherboard
Asus GeForce GTX 480 1536MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
XFX Pro 650W Core Edition Power Supply
Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case With Fan Cooler
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit

I don't know any of the fine details about SSD's, but just saw this one and it seemed like the best deal from my untrained eye - Intel 320 Series 80GB 2.5" SATA-II 25nm Solid State Hard Drive

Is this the best choice for my PC at that price range?

Thanks.

 

[inSilica]

the said ssd is a good one, I've setup 2 in raid-0, twice in the past week. Also doesnt suffer the firmware fiasco some of the other drives have (from what I've read regarding sandforce firmware).

can I suggest the oem version: (it's cheaper)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-018-IN&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=910.

::and:: you still get "FREE Limited Edition Intel Tool Kit and Intel branded Mini Maglite" which ocuk sell for 30 quid (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=XX-001-IN)

loads of reviews on google.

Next best thing I would like to take for a spin are the 510's, just too expensive per GB atm..

 

[Moothead2]

That is a very good choice. Go with either this or the Crucial M4, both are much more reliable than the Corsair force series and most of the OCZ drives.

 

[FredFlint]

I just put one in my laptop and it works ok.

FredFlint

 

[Domo]

can I suggest the oem version: (it's cheaper)

Sorry for the noob question, but does OEM mean it doesn't arrive in pretty packaging?

 

[Surveyor]

Sorry for the noob question, but does OEM mean it doesn't arrive in pretty packaging?

Usually it means you just get the bare drive.

And it probably has a shorter warranty.

 

[FredFlint]

Mine is an OEM and has a slip of paper that says its 3 year warranty unless the supplier states otherwise. So ???

 

[Surveyor]

Mine is an OEM and has a slip of paper that says its 3 year warranty unless the supplier states otherwise. So ???

The retail versions have a 5 year warranty.

So there you have it.

 

[matty_1210]

for a extra £30 you could get a OCZ Vertex 2E Bigfoot 120GB 3.5" which will give you more space and better read/writes.

note this is a 3.5" ssd.
i would also say 80gb is a bit limited for a os drive.

im currently selling 1 (just upgraded to a vertex 3) and can say its a very good ssd for the price.

 

[pastymuncher]

If i was buying a SSD now i would go for the new Mushkin Chronus Deluxe 120Gb drives. Faster and cheaper than the OCZ's and with no potential problems as they delayed the release for two months to solve the problems. Speeds are:-
Maximum Read: 560MB/sec, Maximum Write: 515MB/sec, Random Write 4KB (Aligned): 90,000 IOPS, Controller: SandForce SF-2281.

 

[chivs688]

So as the OCZ Vertex 2E Bigfoot 120GB 3.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive is at basically the same price as the Intel 320 Series 80GB 2.5" SATA-II 25nm Solid State Hard Drive, is there any reason to get the Intel over the OCZ?

The OCZ seems to have the better specs in every category and has an extra 40GB for the same price.

I'm only asking as I have had issues with hard drives not working quite perfectly with my PC before and was just wondering if the OCZ would work perfectly fine or not?

 

[Domo]

The retail versions have a 5 year warranty.

So there you have it.

Interesting link there. Only just got round to installing my 80GB 320 (retail) and the box states it's a 3yr warranty. Maybe it's different in the documentation in the box.

 

[Nelly]

Interesting link there. Only just got round to installing my 80GB 320 (retail) and the box states it's a 3yr warranty. Maybe it's different in the documentation in the box.

Yeah since it was released, Intel ammended the warranty from 3 to 5 years.

 

[robgmun]

So as the OCZ Vertex 2E Bigfoot 120GB 3.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive is at basically the same price as the Intel 320 Series 80GB 2.5" SATA-II 25nm Solid State Hard Drive, is there any reason to get the Intel over the OCZ?

OCZ is going through a bit of reliability crisis at the moment and i won't touch them with a barge pole TBH.

I'd be happy to sacrifice a bit of space if it means peace of mind

 

[Justintime]

2E bigfoot is not really an affected model though is it.

 

[fordypaul]

OCZ is going through a bit of reliability crisis at the moment and i won't touch them with a barge pole TBH.

I'd be happy to sacrifice a bit of space if it means peace of mind

Agreed, Intel have had one SSD blip, OCZ seem to have ongoing issues!

 

[The Asgard]

So as the OCZ Vertex 2E Bigfoot 120GB 3.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive is at basically the same price as the Intel 320 Series 80GB 2.5" SATA-II 25nm Solid State Hard Drive, is there any reason to get the Intel over the OCZ?

The OCZ seems to have the better specs in every category and has an extra 40GB for the same price.

I'm only asking as I have had issues with hard drives not working quite perfectly with my PC before and was just wondering if the OCZ would work perfectly fine or not?

Reliability, just read the threads. If you want a fit and forget get an Intel drive.

 

[robgmun]

2E bigfoot is not really an affected model though is it.

Same controller, same issues

 

[Domo]

Just wanted to say I've had no probs with my new 320 80GB having simply plugged it in. Had a slight panic during the Win7 install when it took a while to expand installation files but overall it took 20/25 mins.
The OS experience is very good - as are boot and shutdown times.
All this running on an old Portege R500 (2GB Ram + Centrino Dual Core).
Superb